# stepchild

Pronunciation: say "STEP-chyld" /ˈstɛpˌtʃaɪld/

## Noun

1. The child of one's spouse from an earlier relationship.
   - Simple: The child your husband or wife had with someone else before.
   - _After the wedding, he slowly built a warm bond with his new stepchild._
   - _Both stepchildren chose to keep their father's surname after the remarriage._

## Noun

2. A child who has lost a father or mother; a bereaved child. *(obsolete)*
   - Simple: A child whose mother or father has died.

## Origin

From Middle English stepchild, from Old English stēopċild, formed from step- and child. It is related to Dutch stiefkind, German Stiefkind, and Swedish styvbarn.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/stepchild (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).